Development Innovation Insider (Diinsider), a development communications agency, held a webinar on Chinese companies using digital technology to share their anti-pandemic experience and spread pandemic prevention knowledge in Africa. They also discussed how to learn from China’s practice to help Africa control the pandemic and promote the development of African digital technology.

At the webinar, Zhang Yanru, associate professor at the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, introduced the achievements of digital anti-pandemic cooperation between China and Africa, with Zhejiang Province as the prime example. She said that Zhejiang Province, relying on its advantages in digital economy development, is encouraging medical institutions, private companies, and China’s medical teams in Africa to participate in the “Cloud anti-pandemic campaign.”

By establishing online health platforms, training medical staff remotely, and publishing results digitally on pandemic prevention and control, Zhejiang Province has helped to effectively promote the construction of the African public health system and contributed to the construction of the Sino-African community of health. Zhang added that Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. has established a virtual platform to share the experience of fighting against COVID-19 and launched a healthcare training program in Africa. To date, the program has trained over 3000 African medical workers online.

A project dubbed “Access to TV for 10,000 African villages” was launched at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015. The Chinese government pledged to provide satellite televisions for 10,000 African villages. According to Ma Shaoyong from StarTimes Group, who is in charge of this overseas project, the company has completed the first phase of the project. This project is also helping to spread pandemic prevention information.

Ma said at the webinar that StarTimes has produced programs such as Pandemic Prevention Daily Show and broadcasts their programs free of charge in local languages through television and the Internet so as to publicize pandemic prevention knowledge to the people of Africa. Amos Malupenga, secretary of Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services, spoke highly of the company: “StarTimes, as a media group, has played a strategic role in our pandemic prevention. They have spread helpful and effective information to the public and reduced the pressure on our local medical system.”

Hannah Ryder, chief executive officer at Development Reimagined—a Kenyan-owned company in Beijing—said at the webinar that COVID-19 has provided new opportunities for digital development in Africa. For example, the Moroccan Ministry of Health has built a telemedicine platform to provide online services for patients. Nigeria’s Center for Disease Control has built iQube Labs, which can directly address pandemic emergency requests. Some African countries have also established e-commerce platforms that provide health solutions via consumer products.

Ryder said that China, as a leader in the digital industry, has high Internet coverage and has witnessed the rapid development of digital payment technology. African countries hope to learn from China’s experience in the development of digital technologies such as telemedicine and e-commerce for poverty alleviation. (By Tian Shida, translated by Jin Haiqiong, edited by Kendra Fiddler) 

       中国数字技术助力非洲抗疫

　　日前，国际发展机构“发展创新洞见”（Diinsider）举办网络研讨会，与会嘉宾介绍了中国企业利用数字技术在非洲分享抗疫经验、传播防疫知识的案例，并就如何借鉴中国数字技术发展经验帮助非洲遏制疫情、跨越“数字鸿沟”展开探讨。

　　研讨会上，浙江师范大学非洲研究院副教授张艳茹以浙江省为案例，介绍了中国与非洲数字抗疫合作成果。她介绍说，浙江省凭借自身数字经济发展优势，积极鼓励省内医疗机构、民营企业和援非医疗队等多方参与“云端”援非抗疫，通过建立网络健康平台、远程培训医护人员、发布疫情防控数字化成果等方式，有效助推非洲卫生防控体系建设，为构建中非卫生健康共同体贡献了“浙江力量”。张艳茹表示，阿里健康建立“全球新冠肺炎实战共享平台”，并发起非洲医护培训计划，目前已在线培训超过3000名非洲医护人员。

　　“万村通”项目是2015年中非合作论坛约翰内斯堡峰会提出的中非人文领域合作举措之一，旨在让非洲1万个村庄收看到卫星电视。据负责该项目的四达时代集团海外项目负责人马绍勇介绍，目前“万村通”项目一期工程已圆满完成。

　　马绍勇在研讨会上介绍，四达时代制作《防疫日报》等多档节目，每天通过电视和网络以当地通用语言免费播出，向非洲民众宣传防疫知识。赞比亚信息与广播服务部常务秘书马鲁蓬加对此赞不绝口：“四达时代作为媒体集团在防疫中扮演了重要战略角色，向民众传播真实有效的信息，减轻了当地医疗系统压力。”

　　来自肯尼亚的睿纳新国际咨询公司首席执行官芮婉洁在会上介绍说，疫情为非洲数字化发展提供了新的机遇——摩洛哥卫生部建设了远程医疗平台，为患者提供在线服务；尼日利亚疾控中心建设了iQube实验室，可直接处理各地针对疫情的应急请求；非洲还建立了一些电子商务平台，部分消费品也提供了健康解决方案。

　　芮婉洁强调，中国已成为数字化解决方案的领导者，互联网渗透率较高，数字支付发展迅速，非洲国家希望借鉴中国远程医疗和电商减贫等数字技术发展经验。(田士达)